Robert Kraft

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Robert Kraft

Visiting Professor of Music and Media

"As the visiting professor of Music and Media, I will be sharing my experience specifically in two departments at Berklee's Valencia campus: Scoring for Film, Television, and Video Games, and Global Entertainment and Music Business. I learned about both areas in the best possible way: on the job."

"Prior to my two decades as a studio executive, I was certain that my life would be solely focused on 'the creative.' In my early years as a songwriter, record producer, and film composer, I concentrated only on the musical part of my job—whether it was making a record or writing a song—with very little interest in the business or political aspects of collaboration. However, after two decades as head of music at 20th Century Fox, I learned that show business is two words. The more I understood the inner workings of a deal or a film or a contract, the better perspective I had on the entire creative process. And the more sensitive I was to the fragile artistic nature of creating something wonderful—combined with a realistic understanding of production—the more valuable I became to any team."

"My goal with my students will be to share a perspective that prepares them for real world situations, whether it be the specifics of scoring an action scene, the deals required for licensing a hit song, the difficulties of dealing with a petulant film producer, or the challenge of understanding a partner's concerns. The more clear-eyed a Berklee student can become, the better prepared he or she will be for a competitive marketplace."

Career Highlights

1976: Harvard University

1980: Moodswing released on RSO Records; performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, Town Hall NYC

1989: Coproduced multiplatinum soundtrack to The Little Mermaid, including the Academy Award-winning song "Under the Sea"

1992: Nominated for an Academy, Grammy, and Golden Globe awards for cowriting "Beautiful Maria of My Soul," from the Warner Bros. feature film The Mambo Kings

1992: Nominated for a Grammy Award as the producer of The Muppet Christmas Carol

1992: Founded Jim Henson Records

1994-2012: President of Fox Music Supervised the music for more than 300 Fox feature films, as well as dozens of TV shows

2013: Founded Kraftbox Entertainment, a music and media production and consulting firm

2014: Soundtrack Consultant for Warner Bros. Records

2015: Signed singer-songwriter and trumpeter Spencer Ludwig to Warner Bros. Records, and started management division at Kraftbox Entertainment

2017: Produced "Score: A Film Music Documentary," a film about the art and craft of composing for film